When working at a command prompt, you often enter the same command several times, or enter several similar commands. If you make a mistake when typing a command line, you don t want to retype the whole thing you just need to fix the part that was wrong. Windows Vista includes a feature that recalls previous commands and allows you to edit them on the current command line. Table B-1 lists these editing keys and what they do.

Function Recalls the previous command in the command history Recalls the next command in the command history Recalls the earliest command used in the session Recalls the most recent command used Moves left one character Moves right one character Moves left one word Moves right one word Moves to the beginning of the line Moves to the end of the line Clears the current command Displays commands that start with characters currently on the command line Clears the command history Appendix B Displays the command history in a scrollable pop-up box

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The command-line recall feature maintains a history of the commands entered during the Command Prompt session. To display this history, press F7. A window appears that shows the commands you have recently entered. Scroll through the history with the arrow keys to select the command you want. Then press Enter to reuse the selected command, or press the Left Arrow key to place the selected text on the command line without executing the command. (This allows you to edit the command before executing it.) It s not necessary to display the pop-up window to use the command history. You can scroll through the history within the Command Prompt window with the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys. The F8 key provides a useful alternative to the Up Arrow key. The Up Arrow key moves you through the command history to the top of the command buffer and then stops. F8 does the same, except that when you get to the top of the buffer, it cycles back to the bottom. Furthermore, F8 displays only commands in the buffer that begin with whatever you typed before you pressed F8. Type d at the command prompt (don t press Enter), and then press F8 a few times. You ll cycle through recently entered commands that start with d, such as Dir and Del. Now type e (after the d), and press F8 a few more times. You ll cycle through Del commands along with any others that start with de. You can save a lot of keystrokes using F8 if you know the first letters of the command you re looking for.

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Windows Vista, like MS-DOS, recognizes two wildcard characters: and *. The question mark represents any single character in a file name. The asterisk matches any number of characters. In MS-DOS, the asterisk works only at the end of the file name or extension. Windows Vista handles the asterisk more flexibly, allowing multiple asterisks in a command string and allowing you to use the character wherever you want.

Using Command Symbols

Old-fashioned programs that take all of their input from a command line and then run unaided can be useful in a multitasking system. You can turn them loose to perform complicated processing in the background while you continue to work with other programs in the foreground. Windows Vista includes features that make command-line programs easier to run and more powerful. These features also allow you to chain programs together so that later ones use the output of their predecessors as input.